Improvement in cotton-bale ties



R. FELL, ll'.

Cotton Bale-Ties. 910.147,75? Patented Feb. 24.1874.

d Pf3 .f B l C A Wilfried- J uenffor UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICEc RICHARD EELL, JH., 0E HELENA, ALABAMA.

IMPROVEMENT IN COTTONBALE TIES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 147,757, dated February 24, 1874; application led December 30, 1873.

.To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, RICHARD FELL, Jr., of Helena, in the county of Shelby and State of Alabama, have invented certain Improvements in Ties for Cotton-Bale Bands. The'following description, taken in connection with thc accompanying plate of drawings hereinafter I referred to,forms a full and exact specification,

wherein are set forth the nature and principles of the invention, by which the same may be distinguished from others of a similar class, together with such parts thereof as are claimed as new and are desired to be seemed by Letters Patent of the United States.

My invention relates to that class of ties which are made use of for fastening` together the ends of the metallic bands used in balin g cotton 5 and the nature thereof consists in ecrtain improvements in the construction of the same,herein after shown and described,wh creby the operation of securing the hoop about the bale is greatly facilitated, and difficulties which have heretofore obtained obviatedthat is to say, since metallic bands have superseded the use of rope in baling cotton, various devices have been invented and patented for securing together the ends of the band; but these fasteners have been found objectionable, because they so weakened the bands that they could not withstand the elastic force of the compressed cotton, and because they could not be readily adapted to different sized bales. rIhese evils are obvia-ted by my invention, and the expense of a supplemental piece done away with.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates my invention and forms a part of the specication thereof, corresponding parts being illustrated by similar letters, Figure l represents the tie as it appears Vwhen secured about a bale of cotton. Fig. 2 illustrates the position of the parts when the fastening is only partially made.` Fig. 3 shows the buckle or keeper.

Upon one end of the band A the loop B is formed by twisting the said band at right angles and bending it back upon itself to a point, where it is secured by a rivet. The other end, c, of the loop or band is passed through the loop from the inner side outward,

next to the cotton, the operative is enabled to draw the band directly toward him before any bend in the band is formed, and hence the band can be more tightly drawn around the bale, and the bale held by the bands' in less compass and more nearly the exact size made by the press. By using a separate piece of.

metal as a fastening, as is often done, and the end of the band passed through from the outer side thereof in the direction ofthe bale, the bend in the band must be made before passing' the end through thefastenin g, and th us the band is put on the bale without knowing whether the bend is of the exact length required. It too long, theA slack in the hoop permits the bale to follow the pressure of the press as it is being raised from the bale, making the bale much larger than is desirable for shipping. It' the band is bent too short it must be straight` cned and rebent, and almost uniformly the band breaks where it is bent and straightened, because of the fact that the bending, being short, injures the fiber of the iron, and in proportion to the injury weakens the band.

Having thus described the. construction and advantages of my invention, I claim, :and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- The combination of the twisted band A,provided with the loop B, end c, and keeper d, all operating as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 1st day of November, 1873.

RICHARD FELL, JR.

,Witnesscs:

RUEUs W. COBB, A. R. EVERETT. 

